Dineplan is launching its digital reservations system for restaurants today. While it joins a veritable smorgasbord of web-based restaurant reservation systems, Dineplan's customer profiling and trend analysis features look promising.
The service is management-focused. There's no patron-facing restaurant database to browse; instead, the South African-bred Dineplan is all about helping restaurants manage their reservation processes -- from the real-time booking plugin that restaurant owners can add to their websites, to statistics and analytics.
A nice departure from traditional web-based offerings, Dineplan offers an offline mode, which allows restaurateurs to view bookings even if there their internet connectivity temporarily goes...

Selfie sticks, drones and wearables are some of the most popular search terms on bidorbuy, which may be an indication of shopping trends for the year
(9 January 2015) At the beginning of 2015, several search terms have joined the ranks of “most popular” on South African online marketplace bidorbuy.co.za.
“Over a million people visit bidorbuy every month, conducting hundreds of thousands of searches. These numbers are extensive enough to serve as a basis for estimating shopping trends. This is especially important for thousands of sellers who sell on the site. They need to know what prospective buyers are looking for...

Seed accelerator 88mph's Nairobi director Nikolai Barnwell spoke to Ventureburn about its upcoming three-month acceleration programme in the Kenyan capital: what they look for in a startup, mentors and the African investment space. Whether you're an entrepreneur considering entering the programme, or just interested in tech in Kenya and Africa, you won't want to miss this Q&A.
What does 88mph value in a startup? Are you looking for innovation or sound business models?
I don’t think they necessarily contradict each other. More often than not they do work alongside each other. Primarily we look at teams.
In such an early stage in...

Can you come up with an idea, build a business and launch that business in 48 hours? That's what the folks at Launch48 try to do a monthly basis. Take a bunch of aspiring entrepreneurs, give them a space to work for 48 hours and see that they come up with.
According to the initiative since its inception in 2009 "Launch48 has helped over 50 startups, with alumni going on to accelerators such as 500 Startups, Seedcamp, Springboard, and Oxygen Accelerator".
"Launch48 is a valuable part of the startup eco-system and anyone interested in becoming an entrepreneur should look to...

Popular mobile messaging chat app Line has got off to an interesting start. It was created by NHN Japan, with the Japanese and Korean team inspired by the tragic earthquake that happened in Japan in 2011. When SMS and calls were unreliable during the disaster, data messaging became the primary mode of communication. As Line’s popularity grew, the app was spun-off in February this year into the Line Corp subsidiary. Besides facilitating chats between users, it has truly become a mobile platform incorporating different digital content including games and manga. But growing to 150-million users in less than two...

We've long lamented over how secretive Africa's startup communities are, especially South Africa and its crown jewel, Cape Town, which is supposed to be a beacon for the continent's entrepreneurial community. As an emerging market with defiant ambition we love to draw parallels between promising African innovation hubs and Silicon Valley, and yes there is promise, but we are sorely lacking openness, a cornerstone trait of successful entrepreneurial ecosystems.
A lack of openness is perhaps as much a symptom of a fledgling ecosystem, as it is a weed that needs to be plucked before it spreads to become stock culture....

Have a sustainable business plan that needs funding? Emerging Stars might help you out. Operating mainly in emerging markets and driven by models of sustainability, the organization links entrepreneurs' products and services with international investors and distributors. Although the website was launched in 2008, the site's design recently got revamped into having "a sustainable business model" while also focusing on its "free business listings."
"Opportunities in Emerging Markets" reads the slogan of the company. The initiative was founded by Raymond Hasselerharm in an attempt to promote foreign trade and investment as well as help relieving poverty. The initiative first...

Founder and CEO of mobile ad network giant InMobi Naveen Tewari has come a long way. Tewari is an engineer by training, studied at Harvard Business School, and worked at consulting firm McKinsey. In between all that, Tewari also had some experience working in startups while he was in Silicon Valley.
Entrepreneurs being entrepreneurs, Tewari was very fascinated with the rapidly changing mobile internet. He wanted to build something which he could call his own. Tewari and his team started to dabble and among their first few projects was a VOIP application and also a chat application. But it was...

Having trouble keeping your kids entertained or getting them to eat their veggies? Maybe hackers can help you. The winners of the latest Hellocomputer/DraftFCB hackathon certainly look like they're onto something in that regard.
The winning entry in the 48-hour hackathon was a hacked kids’ room which was converted into a gaming station. Sensors allowed kids to jump on the bed while being mirrored by their imaginary friend, pilot a rocket-propelled dinosaur through space as well as play a multiplayer pillow fight and -- via a score counter -- see who won.
The kids meanwhile went for...

If you've been following the news lately, you've probably heard about the bank heist where more than US$45-million got sucked out of ATMs around the world last week. If not, then you've at least been exposed to an internet scam or know someone who has. It's not just financial big shots or your granny who are vulnerable to scams and attacks though. Your business-- small or big, is a potential target.
Now, the media is buzzing about cyber-security since the US$45-million hacker heist. Rightfully so as Symantec (the online security company that's responsible for Norton anti-virus) brought us a...

PriceCheck has been awarded International App of the Year at BlackBerry Live, the annual international partner conference, in Orlando.
The Naspers-owned price comparison app beat out more than 100 000 competitors to take the title. The awards (formerly the Wireless Achievement Awards), are reportedly intended to celebrate how BlackBerry technology helps to power innovation and brings ideas to life.
“We are proud to have won this award after competing with so many great BlackBerry® 10 apps from around the world,” says PriceCheck GM, Andre de Wet. “This award proves that South Africa has world-class talent when it comes to mobile software...